eBay announces Skype integration, a Wiki, and more

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ebay finally showed its hand regarding how it was going to incorporate skype, its new acquisition (see our coverage), into its online auction business: the company announced plans to test a new “skype me” button for sellers in certain categories. using the “skype me” button, buyers will be able to communicate with sellers over the skype service.

on the topic of communicating with others in the ebay community, ebay also announced the introduction of ebay blogs and an ebay wiki. the new ebay blogs site gives users the ability to post thoughts and share photos. the ebay wiki also allows the sharing of thoughts and ideas in categories that allow users to browse for tips and ideas regarding products, interests, and other topics, including using the ebay service.

ebay also announced a new crackdown on sellers charging excessive shipping and handling fees. this type of auction listing typically shows items starting at .01 bin while a us$25 shipping and handling fee is charged even for items weighing less than one pound. ebay stated that its new aggressive enforcement is set to begin on monday, june 19th.

brian's opinion
well, i have to hand it to ebay. the “skype me” button is a good way to incorporate its new acquisition into its auction business. some sellers become inundated with questions regarding a listing, and i guess we'll have to see how many sellers take advantage of the opportunity to talk to buyers live instead of relying more on e-mail.

the new community products offered by ebay are no surprise. after all, that's what's hot right now and why my space is such a popular website. more community offerings mean more visitors, which mean more listings for ebay.

i think the biggest thing i pulled from the announcements was the crackdown on excessive shipping charges. i think the practice of .01 bin listings with large shipping and handling fees borders on fraud. it hurts legitimate sellers, and it's about time ebay did something about it.

it looks like these sellers' d-day is on monday.

user comments 3 comment(s)

good choice(2:03pm est thu jun 15 2006)being to be the business where the cross which is good and as for me sells thought is smart, you think that this it does the good place depending upon the e bay. and adding these companies, help the brand all promotion. that gives the good basis in order to make with the consumer. – by yan

shipping(4:43pm est thu jun 15 2006)the only people it hurt was ebay. the people doing it were doing it to keep from paying high ebay fees. i often saw items sell for $0.10 with $99 shipping fees.

it didnt hurt anyone but ebay. the items sold for the same amount in the long run. – by mjwii

re: rax(7:41am est sun jun 18 2006)i was considering rax's post about geek.com getting dull. then i noticed towards the bottom of the page the blurb about comment guidelines and an upcoming “user registration system”. i tend to think the best thing about geek.com is the ability to post comments and to do so spontaneously. a “user registration system” might work against this imo. not every post is a gem of wisdom, but its worth wading through posts of various quaility because of sometimes lively debate here.